Improvement in sewing-machines



ssheetsn'sheetz. C. H. PALMER.

I Sewing-Machines.

No. 145,814. l Patented Dec.23,1873.

. 3Sheets--Shee3. C. H. PA L M ER.

Sewing-Machines. l N0, 145,814, Patented Dec. 23,1873.

UNITED'. STATES PATENT EEIcEo CHARLES H. PALMER, OF NEI/V YORK,.N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 145,8l4, dated December 23, 1873; application filed October 14, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. PALMER, of the city, county, and State of New York, have made an invention of certain Improvements in Sewing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description and specication of the same.

My invention relates to chain-stitch sewingmachines for sewing straw hats and such like articles; and to this end my invention consists in a circular eye-pointed needle and means for operating the same, and also in certain other combinations of mechanism, set forth specifically at the end of this schedule.

In order that persons skilled in the art may understand, make, and use my invention, I will proceed to describe a machine made in accordance therewith and shown in the drawings, iiiwhich Figure l represents a side view of said machine; Fig. 2 ,is a front view of the saine, showing the needle and other mechanism in the vicinity of the needle as it would appear when the point of the needle is entering the loop. Fig. 3 is another front view, showing said mechanism as it would appear when the loop-holder is entering between the needle and the needle-thread to catch a new loop. Fig. fi is a face view of the cam G, and in Fig. 5 are face views of the two cams H and I.

A is the table ofthe machine. B is abracketarln attached to the table, and extending longitudinally over it, and supporting, in suitable bearings, the shaft O, which is reciprocated by the two flexible connections c and c', wound partially around said shaft at C', and extending in different directions from the circumference of the sha-ft, one to each end of the vibrating lever D, so that the said shaft C, and with it the circular needle, is reciprocated around the axis of the sh aft by the movementy of the lever D through the flexible connections c and c. To one end of the lever D a connecting-rod -is jointed, so as to transmit to it a vibratory motion from the revolution of the crank-pin E in the disk E" on the end of the shaft E, which is the driving-shaft of the machine. The disk E is grooved for the purpose of receiving a suitable band, through which power may be communicated. From the crank-pin E anoth er'connecting-rod, jointed to the pin, extends downward to the crankpin K on the disk Kll on the end of the feedshaft K. About midway ofthis connecting-rod, which is flattened for the purpose, is a slot, through which passes a stud, e, fixed to the frame or bracket-arm, the action of which over the stud causes the crank-pin K to revolve simultaneously with the crank-pin E as the connecting-rod moves.

The shaft K is supported in bearings under the table, and at the usual position under the front of the machine operates. a four-motion feed, the roughened surface of which projects above the platform a to en gage with the materials to be sewed.

As no particular mechanism different from that commonly used in sewing-machines to operate the feed is necessary for my machine, I will not give a detail description of the same, for all persons skilled in the art are familiar with such constructions.

O11 the shaft E is a cam, G, which gives the lever G motions in two directions-viz., vibrator-y on the stud g, attached to the bracket-arm, acting as a center, and forward and back, the slot g being cut in the said lever to allow said motion. One end of the lever G rests on the cam G, and receives motions corresponding to its couiigurations,and the other lis jointed to a vertical bar, 7L, in m and m on the face-plate 7L, so as to allow the bar to move with the face-plate It, and also to move in guides m and m in accord with the movements ofthe lever G. The face-plate h is pivoted at its upper end to the front of the bracket-arm, and hangs down nearly to the .shaft C. It is provided with an arm, c, which reaches over and lies on the edge of a cam, I, which is attached to the shaft C, and reciprocates with it. This cam causes the face-plate h to have a pendulous motion, the arm being held in contact with the cam by the spring a on the bracket-arm B. O11 the end of the shaft E, behind the face-plate h, and between it and the front of the bracket-arm, is a cam, H, projecting from the face of a disk, I', which is so shaped as to force the pin o through the face-plate at the proper times to vibrate the whole loop catching and holding apparatus in' lines nearly parallel with the shaft C.

Tov effect the latter operation, a lever, p, is jointed to the face-plate h near its upper end, and hangs down in front of the plate guided in the lips p', and the pin o is fastened to it at a point above the lips. From a point near the said lips the lever is bent nearly at a right angle, and extends forward and ends in a curved frame, p, constructed as represented, having at its lower extremity a loop-catching finger, z, grooved parallel with the shaft C, to receive the pointed end z of the bar h, which is caused to rise out of said groove at times, and at other times to slide in said groove on the top of the loop-linger. in the frame p, and is pressed forward by a small flat spring, q, and is forced up by the spiral spring q. On the end of the shaft G is the needle-holder, which consists of an arm, r', extending from the hub o". The arm r is set, in reference to the axis of the shaft C, so that it shall receive movement in the arc of a circle as the shaft vibrates. The needle S is curved to correspond with the circumference of a circle, of which the axis of the shaft is the center, and when the shaft vibrates the needle travels in a circle. The amount of travel is indieated'by the difference in the position of the needle in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3. The spring t is for holding down the straw braid to the roughened points of the feed b b, which pass up through the plate a and seize the under surface of the material at two different points,

Ybefore and behind the circle in which the needle vibrates, so that the needle may not interfere with the points.

I propose to make the presser-plate adj ustable, if necessary or desirable, for sewing different kinds of material; but thus far it has not been necessary in sewing straw'braids for hats.

The operation of my machine is as follows: The material to be sewed is placed under the spring t, which holds it to the table-plate of the machine and to the feed when it is acting, the needle S being out of the material. A spool of thread or silk is placed on the stand L, and a suitable tension applied to it to draw the thread into the material firmly. The thread is then passed through the eye of the needle S in the direction of the arrow, from the convex The bar h has also a guide Y side of the needle to the concave, and the shaft C, caused to partially revolve on its axis by means of the shaft C', driven by the belt and grooved pulley, forces the point of the needle downward into the straw or other material to be sewed, and the motion is continued until the point of the needle and the needle-eye have been forced upward again through the material far enough to form a bow-string between the eye of the needle and the material, mak ing an opening between the circular needle and the bow string. The finger z then is thrown forward by the cam H, and enters into the loop between the thread and needle, the point z of the lever h rising to allow it to do so. When the loop is on the nger, the point of the lever h falls and the needle is carried back out of the material in the same manner as it was entered, and the loop remains on the finger z. When the needle has left the goods, the feed moves the material forward, the frame moving forward also, and taking with it the loop and the point of the lever 7L, held in the groove of the finger z, the point z also, at the same time, moving backward in the groove, and carrying the top of the loop over toward the face-plate and spreading the loop open. The needle is then again moved and passes through the loop thus spread, holds it, and the finger recedes, the point of the lever h rising to enable the loop to be released. When the needle-eye has again come up through the cloth, the finger z has returned, and is in position to catch another loop. Bycontinuing this process the sewing in a chain-stitch, with loops on the top 0f the goods, is accomplished.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination, substantially as set forth, of the circular needle described, the table, the feed, and the mechanism described for operating said needle.

2. The combination of the needle described, the loopfinger, the spreader, and the penduhnn faceplate, arranged to operate substantially in the manner and for the purposes set forth..

CHARLES H. PALMER. Witnesses:

PHILLIPS ABBOTT, W. L. BENNEM. 

